While We Waited
by dragonwings948
Summary: Jo and the Doctor catch a rare moment to just talk. Feels happen. Set sometime in between The Claws of Axos and Colony in Space. One-shot.


**I am seriously obsessing over these two nerds and I can't stop. There is a sad lack of fanfics about Jo and the Doctor, so I'm going to try and remedy that. I can definitely tell you that this won't be the last Three and Jo fic you'll see from me. (I just finished Day of the Daleks and there are SO MANY missing scenes that I need to write.)**

 **Anyway, I'll let these two talk instead. Enjoy! :)**

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"I told you something sounded wrong!" Jo crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. She looked down the road in the direction they had been going, but in the dim light of the waxing crescent moon, she could only see several yards ahead of her before the world was swallowed by blackness.

The Doctor stared down at Bessie, his chin cupped in his hand. "Yes all right, I should have listened to you." He patted the roadster's hood and sighed. "I just got too excited, that's all."

"It's a shame it turned out to be nothing, anyway."

The Doctor turned and trained a hard stare on her. It became clear he did not want to be reminded of their fruitless trip to examine a fallen meteor, especially now that it had turned into a disaster.

Jo echoed the Doctor's sigh and then listened to the complete stillness of the winter night. "It'll be _hours_ before someone finds us." A chill wind sprang up, cutting right through Jo's thin sleeves. She chafed her hands over her arms. "And it's much too far to walk."

Once again the Doctor's gaze was focused on his beloved car. "I'll have to do some major repairs on you." He paused for a moment, as if waiting for it to respond. "Don't worry, old girl. It happens to everyone."

"Doctor!" Jo exclaimed, exasperated that he seemed completely unconcerned with their current situation. "What are we going to do?"

"The only thing we can do." He walked past her and stood next to a large tree, its branches completely bare. He plopped down onto the grass and leaned back against the tree's thick trunk, folding his hands on top of his stomach. "Wait."

Jo swiveled her head back and forth to look down the road, but no headlights became visible. Not so much as the rumbling of an engine disturbed the night. With a huff, Jo gave up on the hope of being rescued any time soon and shuffled over to the Doctor's tree. She sat down beside him and brought her knees up to her chest. The wind picked up, sending a tremor down her spine.

The Doctor looked down at her, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Are you cold?"

Jo nodded, squeezing her arms around her legs.

"The Brigadier knows where we went," the Doctor began, answering her worries from a few minutes ago as he unbuttoned his red velvet coat. "When we don't come back, he'll send out a search party. I give it two hours before he finds us, at the most." He leaned forward and shrugged off his coat, grabbing it before it fell to the ground, and settled it over Jo's shoulders.

Jo couldn't help but giggle as the coat swallowed her petite frame. The Doctor's meager body heat radiated from the material, creating just enough warmth to send a good shiver down her spine. She looked up to thank him, but realized that now his only protection against the frigid air was a thin white shirt.

"Won't you be cold?" she wondered, beginning to lift the coat off her shoulders.

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't get cold easily."

Jo squinted at him, knowing he could very well be lying. "Another time lord thing?"

"Yes." He smiled, making his eyes crinkle at the corners. "Another time lord thing."

She couldn't decide whether or not he was serious, so she just decided to accept the gift. Oddly enough, with the coat to keep her warm, she almost felt…peaceful. Only the faintest sounds of nature broke through the stillness of the night, and the dark surroundings allowed a dazzling view of thousands upon thousands of stars suspended in the sky.

Jo leaned back against the tree trunk and gazed at the brilliant dots of light above. She wondered how magnificent a star would look in person; the sight would surely blow away seeing one of the flaming balls of gas from Earth. A person who saw that might not ever be able to look at faraway stars the same way ever again…

Her gaze drifted to the Doctor. His lips had settled into a thoughtful frown, and with an intense longing in his eyes he also stared upward.

"Have you seen them all up close?"

The Doctor seemed to shake himself from a trance before glancing over at her. "Hm?"

"The stars." Jo pointed. "Have you seen all of them?"

The Doctor sighed and shifted, using his hands to cushion the back of his head against the tree's scratchy bark. "Not all of them, no. Once I get the TARDIS working, I'll go visit the ones I haven't seen yet. I could use a view like that right now." His eyes drifted closed, and Jo imagined that he was reliving memories of things she could never even hope to dream of.

Jo reached up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You miss it terribly, don't you?"

He opened his eyes for a moment to look sideways at her. "Don't you miss home when you've been away for too long?"

His words made Jo's heart sink. She constantly had to remind herself that the Doctor wasn't human. Earth wasn't where he belonged. U.N.I.T., the Brigadier, even herself…none of it really mattered to him.

"Are you really going to leave us all behind, Doctor?"

Without batting an eyelid he replied, "Yes."

Jo glared at the ground. Tears of betrayal stung at her eyes. She had already known the answer, and yet to hear it confirmed from his lips seemed to make the truth infinitely worse. A day would soon come when she would walk into the laboratory and the Doctor and the TARDIS would be gone.

"Unless, of course," the Doctor continued, "you want to come with me."

Jo snapped her head back up to see that the Doctor was watching her. Though he faced her now, the light of the stars still seemed to be shining in his eyes. What all had this man seen? What could he show her about the universe? How beautiful was it out there?

And yet, all the evil aliens they had faced instantly came to mind as well. The universe wasn't all good; in fact, it seemed to be quite dangerous. Maybe _too_ dangerous.

"Me? Travel throughout time and space?" The thought of herself out there didn't compute in her brain. "I…I don't know." And yet, as she stared into his eyes, she thought she saw something deeper. "Do you _want_ me to come?"

She bit her lip as soon as the words left her mouth and dreaded the answer.

"Jo." He took her hand from his shoulder and enveloped it in his own. His eyes exuded sincerity. "I would very much like for you to come."

"Why?" she blurted out. After all the times he had criticized her and seemed to ignore her, what could he see so special about her that he asked her to travel with him?

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "'Why?' What do you mean, 'why?'"

Jo turned away from him and wrapped the coat tighter around her body. "It's nothing really, but sometimes…" She clenched her teeth, but she had already begun. The Doctor wouldn't let her go without finishing what she had started. "I feel like I don't matter to you. When you left in your TARDIS to defeat the Axons, I never thought I would see you again. But you just said goodbye and left. That was it. After everything we had been through…" She fought hard to keep the tears at bay, but she had to sniff. "I know I'm not the scientist you wanted, but I'm your friend."

She almost continued, but her throat grew painfully tight. The words filled the air and seemed to repeat themselves over and over in the stillness. For a few moments, the Doctor said nothing.

"No, you're not a scientist," he began slowly. He touched his fingertips just underneath her chin and coaxed her head up to meet his gaze. "But you're my girl, and you matter a great deal to me." He drew his hand away and instead slid his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. "I don't ask just anyone to travel with me, you know."

Jo nodded. His words acted as a warm blanket of security for her chilled heart. There could be no doubting the ring of absolute honesty in his voice.

"As for leaving the other day: I knew I was coming back. I would never leave without properly saying goodbye to you, my dear, but I hope I never have to." His eyes grew wide and imploring as he looked at her. "I hope you'll come with me."

Jo rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I'll think about it, Doctor."


End file.
